Echo Farms

One of the first things we saw was a stove that has been created to be easily built and fairly energy efficient. This traps more heat so less wood has to be cleared and burned.

This machine is used to press waste material into burning bricks. This way they can use what they have for fuel and clear fewer trees.

This is the brick the machine creates. Since they have so much condensed material in them, they are quite heavy.

Clean water is always needed in developing countries. This method uses water containers and reflective plates to use the UV rays to disinfect the water.

This is an easy to make smokehouse that people can use to dry fruit and meat so they can preserve it and have food after the harvest.

Bamboo is a quick growing, strong plant that is great as a building material. There is a chemical in the wood that binds with the water to make this plant incredibly strong. Clothes are even being made out of this plant now.

These are compost boxes. They were draining the juices out of this to experiment with anti-fungal, fertilizing and insect repellent properties.

These were in a section dedicated to urban gardening. These plants did not need a lot of soil but were still effective for food and materials. A tire with steady supply of water and sun can grow an incredible amount of plants.

This area demonstrated a wick method of watering. A barrel or container of water is placed upside down so water can drip onto a fabric base under the plants. As the plants soak up water, the fabric draws water from the water container and this minimizes water waste while not over watering the plants.

This compost heap is for organic material, which is later used as fertilizer and soil enrichers to get rid of waste material and return the nutrients to the soil

Echo Farms grew yams in this area. These dirty looking blobs are actually a bright, deep shade of purple if you cut one open. They looked nothing like what we have at Thanksgiving and are much more nutritious.

With this contraption, our tour guide demonstrated how villages can make water pumps in wells out of ordinary, easy to acquire material. The pump is so effective that it can draw water from 15 feet underground without a lot of effort. Children are able to use this pump, which can store water in barrels for later use.